sily as he had come. But now that the necessity
for going back was upon him, he instantly became aware of his utter
ignorance, for he had not the faintest idea how to turn the boat.
There was no time for delay, however. Something had to be done,
and that immediately. David knew this much at least, that a boat
could be turned by means of the rudder; so he began to experiment
upon this part of the vessel. He palled the rudder towards him.
The boat turned, and as it turned the sail began to flap, and toss,
and snap, in such a way that he grew exceedingly nervous. Suddenly
a puff of wind came, and the sheets where whipped out of his
nerveless hand, while the sail thus loosened blew forward.

David's heart quaked at this, and he knew not what to do. With some
vague idea of bringing the boat back to her former position, and
beginning all over again, he pulled the tiller first to one side
and then to the other; but to his dismay he found that the boat no
longer obeyed it. Then he tried to get possession of the sheets
again, and, clumsily crawling forward, he managed to secure them;
after which he crawled back to the stern, and clinging to the
sheets, began, as well as his nervousness would allow him, to try
a series of experiments. First, he pulled the tiller towards him.
At this the boat came up to the wind, and resumed her former
course. But this was the very course on which he did not wish
to go; so he pushed the tiller from him. Upon this the boat fell
away; and the flapping, jerking, whipping, and snapping, which
had so alarmed him before, recommenced, and alarmed him more than
ever. For some time he continued this, until at length, as he
brought the boat up to the wind once more, there came a fresher
puff than any which had thus far blown, and the boat lay far over
on her side. Terrified out of his wits, David had just sense
enough to put her off, and then dropping sheets and tiller, he
sank back and looked all around in a panic.

This puff was the beginning of a somewhat stronger breeze--a breeze
which would have rejoiced the heart of a sailor, but which carried
nothing but terror to the heart of David. What to do now he did
not know, nor for some moments did he even think. The wind to his
inexperienced senses seemed a hurricane, and the wavelets seemed
formidable waves. For a time he lay paralyzed in the stern, expecting
every instant to be ingulfed; but as the time passed, and his doom
was delayed, he began to reco